JACKSON TWP — In an 8-1 vote, the Seneca Valley School Board approved moving the Evans City School to the Ehrman Road site in Cranberry and Jackson townships.

Kathy Whittle cast the only dissenting vote. Every board member was in attendance at Monday night's meeting.

Board members spoke directly to Evans City residents attending to offer their sympathies for what most described to be a “difficult decision.”

Jim Nickel, school board president, also reiterated that the decision was made in respect to maintaining the longevity of a school facility and looking to what would best help students learn and thrive in the years to come.

Mike Corb, CannonDesign's lead architect on the Evans City school project, presented a geotechnical report of the suggested construction sites before the vote and said Evans City had different bearing capacities which would require deeper foundations at a higher cost than that of the Ehrman Road property.

Corb estimated that it would be a price difference of two or three times the cost of putting a foundation on the Ehrman site.

The board also brought in Jim Pearson, Seneca Valley transportation director, to present information on transportation logistics that would accompany moving the school.

Pearson addressed the issue of Pattison Street Extension — a hot point of discussion brought up by Evans City residents worried about the narrow road.

Pearson said the extension is already used to get middle and elementary school students in Jackson, Cranberry and other townships to Evans City.

“We are already traveling those roads,” he said.

Pattison Street Extension has a 10-ton weight limit, which was brought up as a safety concern in previous meetings. Pearson said school buses, which weigh about 30,000 pounds fully loaded, are exempt from that limit along with emergency vehicles.

Pearson said Evans City currently has 56 students who walk and would need bus transportation to attend a school on Ehrman Road, though there are already many other students being bused into Evans City.

“Safety has always been and always will be our guide,” Pearson said. “Safety comes before the schedule.”

As in the previous board meetings, those who will be affected by the board's decision took time to discuss the problems they see with Evans City losing its school. Many speakers agreed that their main issues were with the town losing a piece of itself if the school were gone.

“There are many norms in the community which will be disrupted and broken,” Melvin Muslin said. “It is our perception, simply put, it would not be fair.”

Proposed aquatic center

After the school board adjourned, Matt Hansen from IKM, the architecture firm working on the new aquatic center to be put near the football field at the Seneca Valley campus, spoke.

“I've worked on this project for the last eight years,” said Superintendent Tracy Vitale before introducing Hansen. “The district believes in teaching life skills and a swimming program is part of that.”

Hansen presented two options to the district. The first option was a smaller, less expensive swimming area. It had all the features of a basic natatorium at a cost of about $2 million less than the second option.

Option two was preferred by many audience members and school officials. It included more locker room, viewing and office space, a basement storage area and a lobby that could also serve as a classroom.

“We want this project to grow the program from an academic perspective and an athletic perspective,” Hansen said. “All the school district's spaces should be learning spaces.”

One main feature of Hansen's concept was a gate with movable doors that could turn into awnings to separate or join the athletic facilities around the campus.

Hansen said the project's timeline would include design development to be announced in November and construction document to be drawn in December.

His schedule also accounted for potential bidding to take place in April with an anticipated construction date of June through sometime in 2020.

“I am impressed by the work done,” Vitale said.